Whether in personal contact or via emails and social networks: More and more adults are victims of bullying attacks.
This is the result of a representative study by the Alliance against Cyberbullying with the support of the Education and Social Foundation of Sparda-Bank Baden-Württemberg.
2000 Germans between the ages of 16 and 65 were surveyed.
According to this, 32.6 percent of those surveyed have already been affected by bullying, which corresponds to 17 million adults in Germany.
When it comes to cyberbullying, there are six million, with 82 percent of those affected saying that they are also victims of classic bullying.
The authors of the study warn of a “threatening dynamic”.
Compared to the 2018 results, the number of bullying attacks rose by 8.3 percent, and cyberbullying rose by 25 percent.
This increase is also likely to be related to the corona crisis and the associated accelerated digitization.
Due to the contact restrictions and the obligation to work from home, many areas of life have shifted to the digital space.
Young people up to the age of 25 and women are particularly likely to be victims of bullying.
While classic bullying mainly takes place in the school yard, in training or in social professions, cyberbullying affects all professions equally.
Supervisors are involved in half of the incidents.
But bullying attacks also occur in the private sphere - every second one takes place among friends.
According to the study, victims of bullying suffer from depression, personality changes and decreased self-confidence.
Physical problems such as gastrointestinal complaints can also result.
At work they report sick almost twice as often as those who are not affected.
Around 15 percent of victims of bullying classify themselves as suicidal.